A.13. Potential production of food colorant from coffee pulp (Indah Hartati, dkk.) ISBN 978-602-99334-1-3 A.66 POTENTIAL PRODUCTION OF FOOD COLORANT FROM COFFEE PULP Indah Hartati *) , Indah Riwayati, Laeli Kurniasari Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Wahid Hasyim University No. 22 Menoreh Tengah Road X, Semarang-Indonesia *) E-mail: hartatiprasetyo@gmail.com Abstract Coffee pulp is the waste produced during the pulping operation of the coffee berries. Coffee pulp is reported as a good candidate of material for food colorant production. The food pigment found in coffee pulp is anthocyanin. The anthocyanin content in coffee pulp is reported up to 25 mg of monomeric anthocyanins/100 g of fresh pulp on a dry weight basis. As the fourth largest coffee producer in the world, Indonesia has the potency to produce food colorant from coffee pulp. There are several methods that can be applied in the separation of anthocyanins from coffee pulp. The methods are include solvent extraction, microwave assisted extraction, ultrasound assisted extraction, supercritical fluid extraction and enzymatics extraction. Further researchs are needed in order to find the suitable method for anthocyanins production from coffee pulp. Keywords: coffee pulp, food colorant, anthocyanin INTRODUCTION Color appearance of food products is one of the major concerns of the food industry. The use of colorants as additives for food and drinks is a significant factor to food manufacturer and consumer in determining the acceptability of processed food. Nowadays, it is reported that some food producers are using textile colorants to color their food product. According to BPOM (2008), in 2006 approximately 12,9% of the food sample tested used textile coloring for food (Martianto, 2010). The usage of textile colorants on food product will effect on human health since it contain materials that can not be destroy and accumulate on human body. Color is added to food for one or more of the following reasons: (i) offsetting color loss due to light, air, extremes of temperature, moisture, and storage conditions, (ii) masking natural variations in color, (iii) enhancing naturally occurring colors, (iv) providing identity to foods; protecting flavors and vitamins from damage by light, (v) decorative or artistic purposes, (vi) crease appetite appeal, (vii) to make less desirable food more desirable, (viii) to mask defects, and (ix) may keep certain foods tasting fresher for long time (Sabitha, 2012). The food industry tends to classify colors into two classes: (i) chemically synthesised color and (ii) color derived from natural sources. Chemically synthesised color is comprised of artificial colors e.g. tartrazine and synthesised colors identical to those pigments in nature e.g synthetic beta- carotene or riboflavin. While color derived from natural sources is comprised of color selectively extracted by solvents e.g. anthocyanins and color selectively extracted by solvents then chemically modified e.g. copper chlorophyll (FSA, 2011). Because of health issues, nowadays, the use of unnatural additives is becoming less popular among the consumers. It is especially due to psychological reasons as the consumer easily associates natural colorants to health benefits and synthetic colorants to toxic issues (Ketmaro, 2010). Therefore, replacing synthetic colorants and textile colorants by natural colorants has become a major issue over the last years. Natural Colorant Natural colorants for food are made from renewable sources. Most often, the colorants are extracted from plant material, but other sources such as insects, algae, cyanobacteria and fungi are used as well. The natural food color industry market is growing at 10% -15% annually. The rationale for growth is increasing awareness among the developed countries about the harmful effects and consequences of using synthetic color. The reason for accelerating demand of the natural food